- We have him back and we're honored to have him.

He's Dr.

Steven K. Libutti, Senior Vice President of Oncology Services at RWJBarnabas Health and the William N. Hait Director at Rutgers Cancer Institute.

And also our partners at NJBIZ have a power list, a healthcare power list.

And Dr.

Libutti was highlighted with a very elite group of leaders.

Good to see you, Steve.

- Good to see you.

- A lot of good things happening.

By the way, let me just close RWJBarnabas Health, a longtime underwriter of public broadcasting, our broadcasting together with our PBS partners.

Doctor, help us understand this.

There's a new Melchiorre Cancer Center in Livingston.

What is it, why is it so significant?

And we'll also talk about the role of philanthropy in healthcare.

Go ahead.

- Of course, and thanks, Steve.

So we're very excited about the opening of the Melchiorre Cancer Center, which is on the campus of Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston.

The Melchiorre opened its doors to patients just over a week ago.

It was a week ago Monday, and has already seen over 1,500 patients just since that opening.

We're very excited about it because our strategy at RWJBarnabas Health and Rutgers Cancer Institute was to build a program that had many doors to that program.

So patients in New Jersey don't have to travel great distances to get the sort of exceptional cancer care that one would expect to receive from a National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive cancer center.

And since we're the only such center in the state, we felt an obligation that we expand access to patients across the state.

And the Melchiorre is the northern entryway, so to speak, to that program.

It's a roughly 150,000 square foot facility with exam rooms that are designed around a multidisciplinary approach to cancer.

So surgeons, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists could all see their patients together based on the patient's type of cancer.

We have infusion chairs, roughly 40 infusion chairs at the Melchiorre for treating patients with cancer with various both standard therapies and advanced targeted therapies.

And then radiation oncology resources, including one of only three MRI linear accelerators, which is a fancy.

- Explain what that means, Doctor.

- Yeah.

- I'm sorry to interrupt.

What's that mean?

- It's a fancy, fancy way of delivering radiation therapy.

So it's an MRI machine which does imaging connected to and integrated within a linear accelerator, which delivers the high-intensity radiation that we use to treat tumors.

And this machine allows us to be very precise and avoid off-target toxicity by really zeroing in the treatment to the imaging all in one device.

And so we have one of those at the Melchiorre and one of those at the Morris Cancer Hospital in New Brunswick.

- Actually, that's where I wanted to go, Doctor.

So our good friend, Jack Morris, we knew when this was happening.

The Jack & Sheryl Morris Cancer Center in New Brunswick.

Explain to folks what that is.

We have video that we're showing, but also the lessons learned from the Morris Cancer Center that you used for the Melchiorre.

Please, Doctor.

- Absolutely, so the Morris Cancer Center is the first of its kind in the state.

It's a freestanding cancer hospital, one of only 13 such cancer hospitals in the country.

It is designed around the patient, so it's really focused on improving patient experience.

There's outpatient activity at the Morris, very similar to what I just described with the Melchiorre, infusion therapy, radiation therapy, examination rooms, multidisciplinary, from pediatrics all the way to geriatrics in terms of outpatient cancer care.

Imaging, just like the Melchiorre has.

So PET scans, CT scans, MRIs, all under one roof.

But in addition, the Morris also has 96 inpatient beds and nine operating theaters.

And so it provides state-of-the-art cancer care for inpatients as well as outpatients.

And the ideas are most complicated cases that need admission to a hospital are brought to the Morris.

And again, in keeping with the strategy I mentioned, our idea was to have many doors to one program.

So the Morris serves as the hub for our central region of the state, the Melchiorre as our entryway in the north, and next spring we'll be opening the cancer center on the Vogel Medical Campus in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, similarly sized to the Melchiorre.

- Doctor, let me ask you this.

You and I have had many offline conversations as well, and you've also, let me disclose, been helpful to our family in certain situations that are incredibly challenging and difficult around the issues we're talking about.

I'm curious about this, philanthropy, the Melchiorres, the Morrises, the Vogels.

How important is philanthropy in healthcare?

- Oh, it's critical.

Without their leadership and generosity, these facilities wouldn't be possible, quite frankly.

Philanthropy is critically important in medicine and healthcare.

It's also critically important in research with the challenges that we're facing in research dollars to be invested in next generation discoveries, new therapies.

Philanthropy plays a critical role in that.

And I think the Melchiorres, the Morrises, and the Vogels really epitomize the importance of opening your heart to your community and really being willing to put a marker down that you're gonna make a commitment and therefore develop excitement and energy among your friends and peers to do the same.

I have to acknowledge the Coopermans as well in that group who have made tremendous investment and philanthropic gifts to the system.

And to the MacMillans, Duncan and Nancy MacMillan, who have made impactful gifts at Rutgers for our research efforts.

So without that kind of philanthropy, major donors that can set the standard for others, we wouldn't be able to do what we do as effectively as we do it.

- Dr.

Steven Libutti, he and his colleagues doing important work every day.

thank you so much for being with us.

Thanks, Steve.

- Thank you, Steve.

- You got it, I'm Steve Adubato.

That is Dr.

Steven Libutti.

And we'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The Adubato Center for Media Leadership.

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PSEG Foundation.

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